This Is Why I Love Ebay!

With all the negative ballyhoo and scare tactics floating around about ebay as of late, I thought it might be nice for an alternative take. As a 16-year user of ebay with thousands of buy and sell transactions under my belt, I love ebay as a source of philatelic material. As much as I obtain material from APS circuits, the APS Stampstore, stamp shows, and from national dealers online, ebay allows the possibility of that incredible bargain or new discovery more so than any other venue.

The stamp below, which I received today, is a perfect example of one of those nice little victories, a lovely flower amongst the weeds.

The stamp is Scott R28c and has a catalog value of $40. Marginal centering and a short perf at bottom, kinda mundane....

I recognized what it was immediately and put in a snipe bid of $250. I won the stamp for $2.00 shipped.

So what's the big deal? In this case it's nothing about the stamp and all about the cancel. It's an interesting double strike of the scarcer of the two script cancels from renowned Civil War photographer Matthew Brady. Eric Jackson and Richard Friedberg both sell the more common of the two cancels ("Brady") for $300-400. The "Washington" script cancel is more scarce, and it rarely appears on the market. When I asked Richard what he prices them for, he said can't recall the last time he had one, but he would likely price one at $400-500.

THIS is what ebay is all about... you never know what's lurking out there waiting to be found.

I agree, I've also found some great deals.

1953 RW20 duck stamp used just won the auction for 99cents 1buck shipping

When I learned enough about ebay and people and buying and selling, I had a great time, and still do.

Hunting for mis-described items or just really nice items (to me) on ebay (and elsewhere also ) in an assortment is a great way to spend my time.

Sometimes you lose and sometimes you win, and the more time you spend practicing your skills the more you learn.

Off to ebay again . . .

I'm learning!

Great score!

Fixed it for you




Very nice BUT without extensive study, you never would have known what made it so special.

And yes, these nice surprises still show up on ebay just waiting to be picked up.

I have been on ebay since 1997 and I have also bought and sold 1000's of items. I like it less from a selling point these days, but I still buy on an almost daily basis. Yes, there are still deals on ebay. I got an E7 on cover this weekend for $35.00 and it had a great enclosure with it. I sold an E7 on cover last year for $275.00. I still find great deals under $10.00 on a regular basis. The funny thing about ebay is on items priced over $25.00 the buyers seem to disappear regardless of rarity or value. There are many great finds if you look there. I have gotten three US #1's on cover on ebay and the most I paid was $117.00. I got one for under $60.00 with three good margins. I think these are incredible buys that I could not have found anywhere but on ebay.

I concur with Jenny, a fellow like Dan has the experience and expertise to figure out the good buys. But for me the question is a bit more about the new, inexperienced hobbyists. Can they find the good buys? Can a new hobbyists dive into ebay and other online offerings and have a high probability that they will have a positive experiences?
Don

ebay is the devil. Not because I get ripped off, but because it's sooooooo easy to make impulse purposes and end up wrecking my budget! I, too, at times purchase on an almost daily basis there. I swear one of my favorite sellers must have a gambling problem or something, because he'll put stuff up at absurdly low fixed prices to begin with and then will drop the price even further if it doesn't sell within a few days. Stamps are just a portion of the things he sells and he doesn't always have stamps for sale, but I definitely get an alert when he lists something new!

Hi, I'm Robert and I'm a ebay-aholic. LOL! As much as I hate the policies and fees, I can't help browsing my favorite topics. I haven't found any Killer deals lately, unless you count the 2002 Scott Classic I got for 17 bucks shipped. But I keep looking.

Yes, I think so, but probably of a different variety. For example, I collect Germany, primarily. I consider myself an intermediate collector in that I'm pretty serious about it and devote a lot of time and resources, but I'm certainly no expert or specialist. I probably would not recognize some rare Michel (or even Scott) specialized variety, even if it were sitting in my collection today. So I probably wouldn't be likely to (purposely) obtain an unidentified rarity for a pittance, because I wouldn't recognize it for the rarity it is.

However, that being said, there are many good deals to be found, even on common stamps. I've purchased collections containing many $20-$50 CV stamps at probably 5% or less of Scott value, for example. Many other good deals can be found if one just shops around a bit and keeps their eyes open. And, even if one is a brand-spanking-new beginner, buying from ebay sellers is almost certainly going to cost less than buying from some large approval house (Mystic, Kenmore, Jamestown, et. al).

This is my bane! Too many great stamps out there!!

The one thing I also like about ebay is that it's more than stamp collectors and postal historians. They are people who collect anything related to the topical subject, there's folks searching for family and local history, ephemera collectors, postcard collectors, artisans and many other types who maybe interested in the same items for a multitude of reasons from almost the entire globe. If one has a computer with an internet connection then they can be part of this virtual democracy. The ethnic, gender and age demographics are so much broader than any venue in existence. The global marketplace has enriched both buyers and seller more than just materialistically, but also through cross cultural connections. My anthropology background is showing, but I relish in having buyers from far flung places and delight in selling to a country I've never sold to before. I sold to a buyer in Ethiopia not long ago (and it made it) which was exciting to me. I still need to put together my maps of places I've mailed to soon, but need time for that project.

Battlestamps - yes, indeed. As I mentioned earlier, I collect mostly Germany. I've been adding the odd banknote here and there to my collection as well. I put them in clear Vario pages right in my stamp album. I really think it adds a nice touch to my collection, and I'm probably going to do the same with a few coins as well. It's a piece of cake on ebay to do a quick search for them and find one I want and order it within minutes. Sure beats trying to figure out who the dealers would be for that kind of thing...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/REVISED-7-B...em4ad723365c

drool

even if I won this I would not have the room for it, I live west coast a u-haul would save shipping and my sister lives in california to drive it to me.

after buying this collection you wouldn't have to buy on ebay for the rest of your life lol

I dont know LarryBruce, It looks pretty well organized. Might take the rest of your life to look at everything though.